1/48th Scale Supermarine Spitfire Mk IIa

A bit of a departure from my normal scale, this model was a 'Secret Santa' present from my work colleges. I have been putting off building it as I haven't built a model Spitfire in, well, let's just call it 'a long time'. Instead, I promised myself that if I had time at the end of the Challenge I would give it a go. I did, and I have and here it is.

The aircraft is a Supermarine Spitfire Mk IIa and its marking and paint scheme identifies it as No 71 "Eagle" Squadron, Royal Air Force, North Weald, England, August 1941. North Weald is just 12 miles due north from where I live and is a place I have visited often. They have some excellent little air displays and a small but interesting collection of heritage aircraft on display. There is also a very interesting museum nearby that is well worth a visit.

I'm not actually keeping this model as I don't have anywhere to display it, so it's going to my Brother-in-Law to become part of his massive collection of WWII memorabilia. No doubt he knows a Spitfire pilot or two that can sign it. 

One of the Few

Just a small entry to the Challenge this week. I have several projects on the go at the same time, including the last two bonus round entries. This means I'm very busy but have nothing to show for it! I'm not too worried though as I have made significant inroads in my Challenge target. In fact, the stuff on my desk right now should bring me right up to my aim point, leaving me a few weeks spare...I'd better get my thinking cap on because at the moment I don't have anything else in the pipeline. 

Anyway, this weeks entry is a bit of a departure for me because it is 1/48th scale (a little over 40mm). I bought it to accompany a 1/48th Spitfire from Revelle that I received at Christmas. I may yet paint that for the Challenge, but it has been years since I attempted a kit model as complicated as this and so far I have chickened out of starting it! So you get the Pilot first, with the possibility of the aircraft at a later date.

This resin model of a British Airman is made by a Czech manufacturer and I bought it through a German supplier! The quality was excellent with just a little bit of resin flash that was easily removed with the edge of a blade. Other than that and a wash to clean the surface before priming no other prep was needed.

Hopefully, I'll have more to present next week. I'm halfway through some Natal Native Horse and a heavy parcel filled with tanks has just arrived from Peter Pig!

Analogue Challenge 'Curtgeld' - Rommel

Over the weekend I finished painting my submission for the Gambler/Risk Taker bonus round of the Analogue Painting Challenge. Given that I am collecting figures for WWII North Africa and the Second Punic War my entry was only ever going to be one of two characters; Rommel or Hannibal. Way back in 2009 I painted the Hannibal miniature that was given out at Salute that year but I have never yet painted Rommel, and it just so happened that I had a figure sitting neglected in my lead mountain. Actually the model I have used isn't lead at all, its a plastic 1/48th scale figure from the Tamiya WWII Famous Generals set.

As the title suggest I'll be sending this figure all the way to the cold wastes of Canada as my 'Curtgeld'. I just hope the plastic figure makes it there in one piece. I sense a bit of custom made packaging in my near future. I bought this set of models while on Holiday last year. It was an impulse purchase while we wandered through the high street of a random Devon village and having chanced upon the only model shop for 50 miles (or so it felt) I simply had to buy something. Actually I think the shop owner was a bit startled by this wild eyed city wargamer wandering into his rural shop but I was still happy to push a little money his way in return for a kit that includes figures of Montgomery and Patton as well as Eisenhower and Rommel.

I have to admit that I struggled to paint this figure. its been a long time since I have painted a 28mm figure - having long ago abandoned it for 15mm and 6mm - and it seems I have unlearned a lot of the skill and technique required for this scale. I'm not as happy with how this model turned out as I am with my 6mm submissions to the challenge but in the end I just had to draw a line under it and says "its done, walk away"!. Fortunately the Tamiya set I got this figure from contains two of each General so I have another Rommel to work on at another time. Maybe when I have less time pressure to work on this I can produce a better result second time around. 

Challenge WIP

I'm working on six different projects at the moment as we race towards the last couple of weeks of the Analogue Painting Challenge. In a foolhardy moment of madness I raised my target to 500 points and immediately started to panic! I'm actually making good progress and I'm reasonably confident that I can achieve this. This little lot should get me within 20-30 points of my target so I just need something to top the lot off with.

Viewed here are Baleric slingers, Numidian skirmishers, Carthaginian generals and heroes, Numidian light cavalry, Italian AS42 Sahariana raiding trucks and my Curtgeld, a 1/48th scale plastic figure of Rommel. As I said this should get me close to my new target, so one of my jobs tonight is to rummage through my Lead Mountain to find the last piece of the puzzle. Its been a hell of a ride, and it isn't over yet.